Le Moulin - Albi

Excellent food and service. Great location and very friendly staff. My birthday treat was a memorable evening

Wanting a pleasant outdoor setting for something nice to eat may be difficult in Albi especially if you want a view over the river towards the cathedral but the few tables available outside on the terrace suited us 100%. And the Menu chosen of a main dish followed by dessert accompanied by glass of wine for €28 was perfectly served at a very relaxing pace.

The food at Le Moulin was good, but our evening was spoiled by the rather starchy over-formality and by the common problem in this area of loud, pretentious English diners.

We have eaten here twice in the past few years and always enjoyed the restaurant’s ambiance, view of Albi, and staff’s attentiveness. I’m not sure why I never took the time to write a review but now I am.We were a party of 3: my wife and me with LA. We each ordered different dishes and talked about what we thought of each of our three courses. We drank a bottle of local rose after having aperitifs in the bar. Our starters included a foie gras, a gambas, and a local pate. We each tasted the other’s starters and agreed that they were all very good. Our main courses were two seafood dishes (cod and sea bream) and a filet of beef with mushroom and dark gravy. Again, all were very good and I would add that my filet was one of the best I have ever had in France! Our desserts were also very good.So, even though the variety of dishes offered was limited, we each enjoyed what we had and unlike any meal we’ve had together – we ate different things! I think this speaks well for this restaurant particularly since many restaurants we visit claim to offer a wide array of foods but do not prepare any of them especially well. Sometimes fewer choices means that the chef has made choices based on what’s good to her…. When the chef’s correct, we patrons benefit and that was the case here.Eating on the terrace is the real attraction along with the good food. The service on this occasion was not as strong as I remember from our prior visit. The waiter needed to be reminded to bring the bread. The time between the starter and main courses was a bit long and the restaurant did not seem particularly crowded; that said, the view and conversation filled this gap.I must also note that since the meal took a while to be served, as people finished, other non-dinner guests came in to take their tables. Ordinarily, I’d say this would be fine BUT the two Americans who took the table adjacent to ours were loud business braggarts who must have competed for a client and both lost to someone else because they were commiserating with each other – actually, I think the louder of the two guys may have been trying to hustle the quieter guy either to join his business or go to bed with him…. It was hard to determine what the loud guy’s interests were but I wish he had sat in the bar rather than on the terrace as we were having dessert!It may seem too strong a recommendation but I’d suggest that the manager keep the terrace clear of after dinner drinkers…. For the sake of the rest of us….. And, BTW, I have nothing against American business guys or gays.

We were directed here by the Albi tourist office. The lady at the tourist office was very enthusiastic about this restaurant. So was right to be so. We had a very warm welcome, great table and excellent value. Lunchtime formula, we chose the cold zucchini soup, delicious and very well presented, followed by fillet of mullet with legumes in a creamy curry sauce, which was superb! Rounded off with a sele tion of miniature deserts, with coffee. A little hidden treat of a restaurant, off the beaten track...not to be missed.